Device for opening and closing sliding doors and for other purposes



Sept. 2, 1924. v 1,507,186

P. R. JUDGE DEVICE FOR OPENING AND CLOSING SLIDING DOORS AND FDR OTHER PURPOSES Fil 'l Auz. 23 1923 Patented Sept. 2, 1924 UNITED STATES PATRICK R. JUDGE, OF PARKER, SOUTH: DAKOTA.

DEVICE FOR OPENING AND CLOSING SLIDING DOORS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Application filed August 28, 1923. Serial No. 658,926.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PATRICK R. JUDGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Parker, in the county of Turner and State of South Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Opening and Closing Sliding Doors and for Other Purposes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to levers, and especially to that type used in pulling heavy objects in a horizontal direction.

The principal object of the invention is to provide facility in opening and closing freight car doors. Other objects are to stretch fence wire, propel automobiles, wagons. machinery, railway cars, etc. Further objects will become apparent from the disclosures hereinafter made.

To these ends, I have provided a lever and chain; the lever with a handle at one end, a beak at the other, and intermediate there-- of an opening for the introduction of a chain, wire, or other similar material, and a plurality of slots radiating from said opening, for the retention of said materials at any desired point along the line thereof. The said slots are of varying sizes, to accommodate the diameters of such materials. The chain employed is provided with a hook at one or both ends.

In the drawings, Fi ure l is a top plan view of the device, without the chain; and Figure 2 is a plan view of the edge of the same, with the chain in position.

The numeral 1 represents the body of the device. 2 a reinforcing rib or flange surrounding the body, 3 aweb made integral with the flange, 4t. 9 slots, 5 a circular enlargement of the slots, 6 a curved beak, 7 a handle. and S a chain.

One of the most valuable uses to which my invention can be put, is in the operation of freight car doors. They are necessarily quite heavy, and are also apt to warp, sag, swell, and to have their ways obstructed by snow, ice and other things. It is therefore often very diflicult to close such doors effectively enough to retain certain cargoes or to permit of fastening them by the usual means. Similarly, such doors, having been closed, are difficult to reopen. Both of these conditions are now overcome by the use of the device herein described. In use on car doors, the lever 1 is threaded with the chain 8, which chain is provided with a hook (not shown). To close a car door, the hook is put in engaging position with the hasp on the door, the chain is drawn through the opening 5 a suitable distance and allowed to drop into the slot 4 where it is engaged by contact with one of its lateral links. The beak 6 is then braced against the door frame, car-end or other suitable object; whereupon the device is capable of enormous leverage by the exercise of manual pressure upon the handle 7 thereof. To open the door, the operation is similar, except that the beak is braced against some suitable object in the opposite direction.

In use as a barbed wire stretcher, the wire is substituted for the chain. The lever is threaded with the slack end of a wire strand; the latter is drawn a suitable distance and allowed to drop into the slot 9 where it is engaged by the contact of a barb with the sides of said slot. The beak is then braced against a fence-post or other object, and the lever is operated by its handle contrary to the tension of the wire, and the slack in said wire is thereupon taken up. Other methods of use are obvious, as in moving heavy objects along the ground, rails or floor, when the chain is attached to such object, the beak braced against a suitable anchorage, and the handle manipulated in the direction desired.

The chain, wire or other material by which objects are to be pulled may be attached to and retained by the lever in any convenient manner, such, as by a hook, clio, clamp, knob or button; but the slot met 10d is herein shown as the preferred means. There may, obviously, be many other variations made in the application of the principles herein disclosed, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A pulling device comprising a lever provided at one end with a handle and at the other with a beak, and having, intermediate of said ends, through said lever, an opening from which extends a smaller opening the walls of which are capable of retaining the links of a chain when passed therethrough and laid therein. A

2. A pulling device comprising a lever provided at one end with a handle, at the other with a beak the bit of which is wider than said beak, and, intermediate of said ends. through said lever, an Opening from which extends a longer narrow opening the walls of which are capable of receiving and retaining the links of a chain when passed therethrough and laid therein.

3. A pulling device comprising a lever 5 provided at one end with a handle and at the other with a curved beak, and, intermediate of said ends, through said lever, an

opening from which extends a narrow slot, the walls of which are capable of receiving and retaining the links of a chain when 1 passed tlIBIGlJhl'OHfIh and laid therein.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

PATRICK R. JUDGE. 

